Shoe press



' J. F. SMITH March 28, 1939.

SHOE PRESS Filed Oct. 30, 1937 2 SheetS-Sheet l y lNvEN-roR ,y

/W v 3 ,Q4 ATTO EY;

March 28, 1939. 1 F sMlTH 2,152,389

SHOE PRESS* Filed Oct. 50 193,7 2i Sheets-Sheet 2 1 'h1 il uw l l Ul( HHH Il WHW- /2/ H'VENTOR f ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES EBATENT DFFICE SHGE PRESS Application October 30, 1937, Serial No. 171,854

12 Claims.

This invention relates to shoe presses for use in shoe manufacturing operations such as cement sole aliixing, sole conforming or leveling, channel laying and the like.

A general object of the invention is to provide a shoe press which is capable of being rapidly and emciently loaded and unloaded, is well suited for applying pressure to a shoe sole in the required manner without undue bulging of its pressure applying diaphragm, and at the same time is adapted to accommodate widely varied sizes.

More specically it is an object of the invention to provide such a shoe press which is capable of controlling the pressure applied to a shoe sole, particularly in the area dening the forepart portion of a shoe, and thereby to prevent rolling of the sole edges by restricting the expansion of the pad with which such presses are equipped by means of a coniining plate which is simultaneously adjustable with an adjustable toe post and operates in conjunction therewith.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel combined toe post and pad confining plate having a rugged construction including means constantly to reinforce the confining plate during operation and additionally to reinforce the toe post when very small sizes are being run.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplied in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection With the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a shoe press embodying features of the present invention, parts thereof being shown in section better to illustrate the construction;

Fig. 2 is a plan view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. l illustrating the adjustable oonning plate.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a toe post holder and toe post extension member as seen in Fig. 1 .To and to which the conning plate illustrated in Fig. 2 is attached.

Figs. 5 and 6 are front, top and rear views 'ci the structure shown in Fig. 3.v

The present invention is capable of accommodating a wide range of shoe sizes in that its fifi heel and toe posts are readily adjustable. In conjunction with this adaptability to size range it is also capable of controlling the expansion of the pressure applying pad by means of a conining member movable with the toe post so as to eliminate need for any independent adjustment thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a press comprising a base it! which is pocketed so as to receive a pad il of any suitable type. Preferably such pad is suiiiciently vertically expansible to compensate for ordinary variations in last sizes through inlation alone. A bow member i2 preferably is integrally cast with the press base and extends longitudinally thereover. However, this member may be otherwise associated with the base and may even be movably mounted thereon while retaining certain beneiits of the invention. The under side of the bow member adjacent its forward end has lintegrally cast therewith a downwardly extending web i3, and a toe post guide lli attached to the underside of the web i3. A toe post comprising a holder portion l5 and a post proper l5 which is adjustably threaded therein is slidably mounted on such guide, the upper end thereof being grooved and provided with attaching plates it in order to provide a dove-tail connection with the guide. A set screw H, provided with a suitable hand wheel i8, is mounted in the toe post in position to clamp against the guide M so as to hold the toe post in any chosen position. The underside of the toe post is provided with a shoe contacting pad of rubber or like material.

Preferably integrally cast with the toe post is a forwardly and downwardly extending toe post extension member indicated generally at i9. For convenience in operation, this member is bifurcated forming legs 2t and terminating in longitudinally extending feet 2l. Carried by the toe post extension member I9 and firmly secured in any suitable manner, as by machine screws 22 passing through the feet 2l, is a substantially U-shaped pad confining plate 23. Two lugs or ears 2i, preferably integrally cast with the rearward ends of the plate 23, extend downwardly on each side of and beiow the base member lil where they are joined by a tie rod which lies contiguous the horizontally arranged bottom faces of reinforcing webs on the underside of the base, all of which serve to prevent upward displacement of the plate 23 and keep it in proper alignment but allow free longitudinal movement thereof.

As an additional reinforcing means to the conning plate 23, and particularly to the toe post I5, there is provided a horizontally extending tail piece 26, itself suitably reinforced by a web 21 which branches out following the contour of the bifurcated toev post extension member 20. As the toe post approaches the rearward end of the guide way I4, or even goes partially beyond it, during a run of very small sizes, the tail piece 2B bears against the undersurface of the guide way I4 thereby providing a firm seat against the bow member guide which together with the lugs 24 and tie rod 25 serves firmly to hold the parts against pad imposed stresses.

The press of the present invention is also equipped with a suitably adjustable heel post indicated generally at 21 which may desirably be of the kind more fully described in a copending application Serial No. 32,691, liled July 23, 1935 which matured into Patent No. 2,116,967 granted May 10, 1938. Other known or desired types of heel posts may, Vof course, be employed.

In operation, the toe and heel posts are adjusted to a proper position to permit insertion of a lasted upper and an outsole between them and the pad I I. The pad is thereafter inflated in the usual mann'er, pressing the s-ole against the shoe and pressing the shoe and its last against the toe and heel posts respectively. When shoes of a markedly diierent size are to beoperated on the toe and heel posts may be adjusted so as to accommodate them. Regardless of the size range to be accommodated the coniining plate is always in proper alignment and spaced relation with respect to the toe post to control expansion of the pad in the region bordering the forepart area of a shoe thereby to prevent rolling or curling of its sole edges. Any adjustment of the toe post provides proper simultaneous adjustment of the confining plate without further concern on the part of the operator, and a rm support of the conning plate and toe post is assured in all positions.

While the presently described embodiment provides a preferred and practical form of the invention, it should be understood that it is illustrative, and that various changes may be made Without departing from the invention described and claimed.

It will thus be seen that there hasI been provided a shoe press which is'well suited to fulll its intended functions and since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe press comprising a base member, aV

bow member extending thereover, a heel post carried by said bow member, a pressure applying pad on said base member, an adjustable toe post carried by said bow member, a toe post extension member having a reinforcing element for said toe post engageable in supported relation with said bow member, coniining plate means connected to said extension member and adapted to control expansion of said pad, and means movably coupling said confining plate means and said base member to prevent upward displacement of the plate means.

2. A shoe press comprising a base member, supporting means connected thereto, a heel post carried by said supporting means, a pressure applying pad carried by said base member, a movable toe post carried by said supporting means, a toe post extension member, a plate oonnected to said extension member to coniine expansion of said pad, lugs connected to said plate extending belowsaid base member and a tie rod secured to said lugs beneath said base member additionally to hold said plate against upward movement.

3. A shoe press comprising a base member, supporting means connected thereto, a heel post carried by said supporting means, a pressure applying pad carried by said base member, a movable toe post carried by said supporting means, a toe post extension member having a reinforcing element for said toe post, a plate connected to said extension member to confine expansion of said pad in its forepart area, lugs connected to said plate extending below said base member and a tie rod secured to said lugs beneath said base member additionally to hold said plate against upward movement.

4. A shoe press comprising a base member, supporting means connected to and'extending over saidbase member, la heel post carried by said supporting means, a pressure applying pad carried by said base member, a toe post guide member carried by said supporting means, a toe post slidably mounted on said toe post guide member, a bifurcated toe post extension member integral with said toe post, a reinforcing tail piece integral with said extension member and adapted to bear against the under surface of said toe post guide member as said toe post is moved rearwardly with respect to said guide member, a U- shaped conning plate connected to said extension memebr adapted to embrace the forepart of a shoe and to restrict expansion of said pressure pad in its forepart area, and lugs depending from said conning plate below the underside of said base member and linked by a connecting member passing beneath said base member additionally to hold said conning plate against upward movement.

5. A toe post adapted to be movably mounted on a shoe press over a pressing diaphragm, said post having a conning plate attached thereto for movement therewith and extending therebelow in position to engage and restrain the rolling action of such diaphragm adjacent the forepart of a shoe held under said post, and means for tying said plate to the press with a loose motion connection permitting longitudinal plate movement while preventing upward vertical plate movement,

6. A toe post adapted toV be movably mounted on the bow member of a shoe press over a pressing diaphragm, said post having a downwardly extending member attached thereto and terminating in a conning plate arranged to engage and restrain the rolling action of such diaphragm, and thrust transmitting means on said member in addition to and extending away from said toe post for bearing in supported relation against said bow member at a point spaced from said toe post.

7. A toe post adapted to be movably mounted on the bow member of a shoe press over a pressing diaphragm, said post having a downwardly extending member attached thereto and terminating in a conning plate arranged t engage and restrain the rolling action of such diaphragm, means on said member in addition to said toe post for bearing in supported relation against said bow member and means on said plate for anchoring it directly to a press base.

8. In a shoe press having a pad carrying base and shoe supporting means positioned above said pad and base, a pad restraining plate shaped to embrace the forepart of a shoe on said pad and positioned to engage and restrain the rolling action of said pad, lugs extending downwardly from opposite sides of said plate beneath said base, and means passing under said base and connecting said lugs to anchor said plate against upward movement with respect to said base.

9. In a shoe press the combination comprising, a toe post slidably mounted on said bow member, a pad carrying base having a bow member extending thereover, a -bifurcated extension member movable with said toe post, a reinforcing tail piece integral with said extension member adapted to seat in supported relation against said bow member, a U-shaped confining plate connected to said extension member in position to restrain the rolling action of said pad, and lugs depending from said confining plate below the underside of said base member and linked by a connecting element passing beneath said base member additionally to hold said confining plate against upward displacement.

10. A shoe press comprising a base member having longitudinally extending supporting means thereover, a pressure applying pad carried by said base member, a toe post slidable along said supporting means, a pad confining plate overlying said pad in the vicinity of said toe post, a plate support connecting said plate .and said toe post, and a reinforcing tail piece on said support extending away from said toe post and bearing against said longitudinally extending supporting means.

1l. A shoe press comprising a base member having longitudinally extending supporting means thereover, a pressure app-lying pad carried by said base member, a toe post movable along said supporting means, a pad confining plate overlying said pad in the Vicinity of said toe post, a plate support extending forwardly and downwardly from said toe post to said plate, and means associated with said support for transmitting forces from said plate directly to said supporting means at a point located forwardly of said toe post.

12. A shoe press comprising a base member having longitudinally extending supporting means thereover, a pressure pad carried by said base member, a toe post guide member extending along said supporting means, a toe post slidably mounted on said guide member, a U-shaped pad conning plate overlying said pad around the toe portion of a shoe held beneath said post, and plate supporting means suspending said plate from said toe post including a thrust transmitting reinforcing tail piece projecting forwardly from said toe post and slidably bearing against said guide member.

JOHN FREDERICK SMITH. 

